At the beginning of the Shunto Season (spring bargaining), the Osaka YMCA warned the traditional annual wage increase bargained with the union was in jeopardy.The union's answer was simple; if the company couldn't afford the pay raise for all full time foreign teachers, just give the union teachers a raise.

"We, the YMCAs in Japan, learning from the life of love and service manifested in Jesus Christ shall carry on the following mission in collaboration with other YMCAs throughout the world. We shall strive to preserve human rights, seeking justice and fairness."

Osaka YMCA is a quasi-religious organization purporting to follow the ethics of Jesus in its business dealings. Publicly, YMCA espouses a policy of fighting against discrimination but is in fact a patriarchy that fails to address the need for equal opportunities for both female and foreign employees.

Teachers at the both the YMCA language centre and the International High School have submitted demands to their employer to start negotiating the working conditions for the 2004 school year.

After two years of dispute with the YMCA it appears that the Y is ready to sit down in good faith and negotiate new working conditions after an onslaught against the union to try to smash the working conditions that the union has gained over the past six years.